Bodies of two teens pulled from car in river

NELSON — Two teenagers died when the car they were in slid off a road in southeastern B.C. and tumbled into a frigid river, RCMP said Wednesday.

RCMP Sgt. Chad Badry said the Volkswagen Beetle was recovered Tuesday from the Pend Oreille River near Trail.

“Tragically, both missing teens were located deceased,” Badry said in an update posted on the RCMP website.

“Conditions were difficult and the recovery operation took a significant amount of time to complete,” he said, adding that B.C. Hydro assisted in lowering water levels in the Pend Oreille by reducing discharge from its dam upstream from the accident site.

The crash happened Sunday when the Volkswagen carrying four people missed a curve along Seven Mile Dam Road, a paved road bordering the river.

Two females, the 18-year-old driver from Salmo and a 15-year-old front passenger from Warfield, managed to escape the sinking car. An 18-year-old woman and 15-year-old boy in the back seat were trapped.

Both victims were from Fruitvale, a village 16 kilometres east of Trail.

Seven Mile Dam Road was ice and snow-free on Sunday. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, Badry said.

Anyone who saw the group of teens or the Volkswagen before the crash or saw it go into the river is urged to contact West Kootenay Traffic Services.